I hope you had a wonderful start in the weekend. It was too warm to do anything here yesterday and today it is the same. The moment I put on my base, it basically melts. I fished out some setting powders which were pushed to the bottom of the drawers. Now they became my best friends. Are you having a molten weekend too?

Each year I try to visit Italy once. During my visit I like checking Dolce & Gabbana counters too. These counters are everywhere in Italy although in Germany the brand is very hard to get. This time around I also searched for Gucci make-up counter and paid a visit to their flagship store close to Piazza de Spagna. A very kind sales assistant told me only Milan and Florence stores have the beauty line but it is expected that Rome gets it later this year. Since I checked Gucci Beauty in Berlin already (you can find swatches & first impressions here), I concentrated on Dolce & Gabbana this time around.

The first day of our arrival I ran into La Gardenia Profumerie. From what I understood, it is an Italian chain cosmetics/perfume store. They were having 20% off everything if you buy over 50€. It was a great opportunity for me to pick up one more Dolce Gabbana Quad since I love their color combinations and formulas. The quads were then only 42€. I recommend you checking out if you have one of these stores close to you, since I believe this price is really good for the quality you get. I would have gotten a few more quads normally but I am trying a low buy at the moment so here is my small haul from Rome. I also picked up one of cream eye shadows from the brand and I will be posting about it soon.

Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

Since I like the formula, I tried to collect quiet a bit of Dolce & Gabbana quads from Evilbay and during my travels. My favorite among others are Smoky and Femme Fatale as well as Mediterrano (latter is reviewed here). When I saw #146 Lushies, I was smitten. What an unusual color combination. It looked like nothing in my stash. It was a nice taupe natural quad with a red twist and we are talking about red with a good color pay off.

The packaging of Dolce Gabbana is chic and feels luxurious. I believe it is plastic with a metal looking coating but it is sturdy. I like the round edges, which is kind of cute. I wished the closure would be magnetic though (I keep saying that for many brands it seems).

Close-up: Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

The eye shadow shades are as follows:

Top left: A light taupe with shimmery finish. This shade is light enough as an inner corner highlight or to dust under the brow bone for a subtle highlight. If you are very fair, it might not be a highlighter shade for you though. In this case you can use it all over the lid and combine it with your favorite highlighter.

Bottom left: A mid-toned taupe with satin to shimmery finish. This is a gorgeous natural everyday shade which would look good across different skin tones and undertones. It also applies beautifully. I like it especially all around the eye lid as my main color.

Bottom right: A deep natural brown with satin to matte finish. This shade swatches a little drier but I like deeper shades a little drier, especially since it is easier to control the application on the crease and they don't fall down. This one completes the natural part of the palette beautifully. Three shades make an everyday selection which I can use for very often.

Top right: A medium natural red with matte finish. This is the shade which makes this palette special. I probably wouldn't be purchasing it with the other three shades plus another mid-toned shade. This red though takes things to another level. I love the fact that it is matte, which makes it easier to pull off brighter shades. It applies and blends beautifully with the other shades too.

Swatch: Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

Here is a first attempt of a daily wearable natural look which combines red as an accent color in the middle of the lid. Since red is quiet vivid, there is no problem of blending to nothing, which I frequently get in some new formulations right now (YSL I am looking at you).

Here I applied the lightest shade on the inner corner, mid-toned taupe all over the lid, brown on the crease and outer corner. I then added a pop of red in the middle. I combined the look with Urban Decay Demolition eyeliner (my go-to liner) and Chanel Le Volume mascara.

In-action: Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

Does red accent shade reminds you of another palette? Dior 5 Couleurs #876 Trafalgar (reviewed here) came to my mind so I swatched them side by side for you. Upon swatching I felt once more bad about how Dior's eye shadow formula got worse, even Trafalgar, feels so dry. Although it is one of the best of the line, needs multiple swipes to show off on my arm *insert big sigh*. Anyway you see that the reds are very different in both of the palettes. Dior's red is satin with pink shimmer but D&G Lushies have matte red. Also Trafalgar pulls much warmer with the golden shade in the mix.

Here is the full look. I combined it with red lips which I thought to be fun because it is matchy matchy in a modern way. You have seen the lipstick in yesterday's post, it is RMK Irresistible Bright Lips #01 Vivid Pink. Here I am also wearing Tom Ford bronzer in Terra (review coming up soon).

FOTD: Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

Here is the full look, you see that it is quiet wearable. I felt though it would be more for a night out, maybe because of the red lip? I still couldn't get used to casual red lip trend. I am trying to wear red a much as possible though but once it is gone, I usually have no time to reapply it throughout the day so I start the day in glamour, end up with a nude lip after lunch.

FOTD: Dolce & Gabbana Smooth Eye Colour Quad #146 Lushies

Final thoughts: I would like to see more brands do it, a natural palette with one fun shade to spice things up a little. It can be green, blue, pink, you name it. Dolce Gabbana Quad #146 Lushies has a good formula and I really like the concept. I am sure I will be reaching for it more often when the weather gets a bit cooler.

Availability: The shade #146 Lushies seem to be hard to get. I see though Nordstrom has it online, at the time I am writing this post.

Nice combo - neutral and rabbit in one palette, and it looks very good on you! This is the weather when I find Guerlain Lingerie de Peau BB comes into it's own holding up in heat and humidity. Chanel's old CC cream formulation was pretty good too. Susan, London

I like their eyeshadow palettes, have several, including the nude one form Spring collection. The red lipstick in Spring collection was also nice, regret for not buying it. This is a nice look, but I also can only buy D&G when I am travelling, so low chances I will find it soon. I have few of their cream eyeshadows. They are really good, but they dry out surprisingly quick, so I try to avoid them as I can't finish it in 2-3 months. Low buying makes sense. I think that I should stop buying makeup all together :) have no more space to store and won't finish my makeup in a decade, and probably have all possible tones already. I guess to be able to do so I would have to stop reading bloglovin because most temptations come from the beauty blogs :)

I don't think the color combo is going to flatter my eyes ( I will probably look bruised, and that red will make it look like I need eye drops), but it looks good on you! Will be a nice quad for the fall/winter

I love what you have done here Sara-when I looked at the palette I was like 'no way Jose' but you have made it work!! The neutral lover in my loves the two left shades in your swatches. I have a D&G palette but not tried it yet

Hi Jane,hahaha I know beauty blogs bring things which are tempting. But please read further, I would miss you and your comments. Now what you can do is to check out the looks and color combinations and try them out with the shades from your stash. For example, if you have a red, combine it with your favorite taupe and give it a try ;-)

Hi Hara,are you in Greece in August, how nice! Do you have D& G there? I might visit Rhodes this year again, actually I can't wait! I was also at the counter trying this and that out, then I have seen taupe and red, I had to have it!

Thanks Stacey. I would love to hear how you like the formula. I have a few of those and I really like them. I find them a little underrated but I think one of the reasons is because they are hard to get in many countries. Which quad do you have? You would love Femme Fatale!

Hello Sara :) .yes we have Dolce Gabbana in My homeland Thessaloniki so i'll go to have a look.there are so many beautiful places in Greece to visit especially during summer :) i would also recommend Milos in Cyclades! Amazing island with beautiful beaches!!my only D&G item that i own is the lipstick Bouganville from the Spring's collection which i purchased from Harrods during my last visit to London and i really love it!!

Oh La Gardenia! They had the promotion when I was there and I grabbed a lipstick from Dolce e Gabbana! Not terribly moisturising my my favourite peachy nude of all times! Love this palette! Not sure the gold packaging speaks to me but I can overlook it if the product is gorgeous I guess. :)

Ohh how weird that even the Gucci in Rome doesn't carry the beauty line! I'm with you on the low-buy.... makes me wonder what i'm going to review next... lol!! I do like the matchy-matchy look you came up with! Although, yes... starting out the day glamorous and ending with a nude lip seems like the story of my life! ;)

Hi Sara, The Dolce E Gabbana makeup counter opened here on Friday and I literally ran in!! This was my first purchase together with the Sophia Loren Lipstick and a metallic liquid liner. I tried a few other products but they all look so good incl. their bronzer - any other recommendations?

Hi, this one is so pretty isn't it?I have a few more quads, both Femme Fatale and Smoky are super pretty. I don't know much about their lipsticks but bronzers look really pretty. Let me know what you picked up.